Thumbs up, down from the Yuma Sun

• Thumbs up to the San Luis Police Department, which recently welcomed a new canine officer, Baco. The K-9 unit now has four furry members, which

SLPD credits with helping the department especially with drug seizures. Welcome to San Luis, Baco.

• Thumbs up to a report from Pfizer that says its COVID-19 vaccine is looking to be 90% effective. The report is promising, but more testing and research still needs to be done before this can be rolled out. However, it’s great news, and we’re excited to see where it goes next.

• Thumbs up to the Yuma

City Council, which decided to pursue bonds to pay off the debt it owes for police and fire employee pensions mandated by the state. Thanks to the low interest rates right now, the bonds will allow the city to pay off 100% of the debt owed to the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System. And, the city will save $64 million over the years, compared to the other options to pay the debt.

• Thumbs up to the Yuma Catholic Shamrock football team, which is undefeated so far this year and sitting at the top of the Arizona Interscholastic Association rankings. Congrats to the players!

• Thumbs up to the Yuma Catholic volleyball team, which has advanced to the first round of state playoffs.

• Thumbs up to the Yuma Union High School District student athletes who are signing letters of intent to play at the collegiate level.

• Thumbs down to a recent Associated Press report that found COVID cases to be rising four-fold in nursing homes in states with surges. That’s the last place we want to see cases rising.

• And, on a related note, thumbs down to the latest COVID statistics. The Associated Press reports that the U.S. has hit record numbers of hospitalizations from the disease, which is scary business.

• Thumbs down to reports that San Diego County is back on the most restrictive tier of COVID-19 restrictions, due to a spike in cases there. If you are heading over to the beach, do your research before you go.

Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down are compiled by the Yuma Sun editorial board, based on recent events, happenings and activities around Yuma County and the nation, and will appear on Fridays in the Yuma Sun.

Unsigned editorials represent the viewpoint of this newspaper rather than an individual. Columns and letters to the editor represent the viewpoints of the persons writing them and do not necessarily represent the views of the Yuma Sun.